Semua Bab A Man with Nerves of Steel: Bab 21 - Bab 30

Natalie was stupefied. In all her years growing up, this was the first time Cora had ever hit her, and it was a straight-up slap across the face. Judging from the strength Cora had used, she hadn't held back in the slightest. The sting on her cheek she could endure, but the crack that opened in her heart wasn't something she could accept."Did you actually hit me, Mom?" she asked in disbelief.Seeing the hurt in Natalie's eyes made Cora feel like she'd gone a bit too far. However, her gaze stayed sharp as she stared Natalie down. She reached out to touch Natalie's cheek, but the latter flinched and dodged her.She asked coolly, "What did I tell you before sending you to your father? If he doesn't come back, you and your sisters aren't allowed to come back, either. I wanted you to bring him home. He has issues with me, but he wouldn't have made things hard on you girls. And what did you do? You come back alone."Secondly, I'm the one who gave birth to you. Could anyone possibly know

Bernard and Joseph parted on a bad note.After Joseph walked out, Walt came out of another office. Seeing the awful look on Bernard's face told him that the talk with Joseph had obviously blown up. A bad feeling washed over him.He was right.Bernard turned to Walt and snapped, "That ingrate has grown a pair now. He actually dared to go against me! I'll make sure he gets it into his head that in Jenton, nobody crosses me and walks away! Fire him. Make sure he can't practice as a doctor anymore."I'll call in a few favors. We'll see which hospital out there dares to hire him after he's kicked out from here. I can't wait to see how he plans to survive in Jenton!""Come on, Bernard. I think that's taking things too far. Joseph only brought up divorce because he wants to give Cora and Natalie's biological father a chance to be together. He wasn't targeting you. Someone at your level doesn't need to come down this hard on him," Walt hurriedly said."He wants Cora to pay him several bi

The next day, Joseph met Fiona at a cafe at noon. He walked straight over to her and saw that she'd already ordered drinks and food—a large steak set. Since they were friends, she knew what he liked."If you're here to talk me into taking Cora back, then we can skip this meal," he said bluntly."Well, I'm not. I'm here to talk about something related to your job. I have a relative who's sick and needs to be transferred to your hospital. I was hoping you could keep an eye on them."Fiona's words were half true, half excuse. She just wanted to keep Joseph calm enough so that he would at least make it through lunch with her. She also wanted to sound him out, but every time she tried, he smoothly changed the subject."Joseph, do you know Bernard is planning to sue you?" she asked.Joseph answered, "And he should. After all, I demanded billions of dollars right off the bat. Is that what Cora wants, too?""Honestly, she isn't thinking of that. She just feels like you've wronged her."

Joseph thought he was seeing things. He scrutinized the photo from every angle, even suspecting that it was synthesized. But when he compared it inch by inch, he realized every detail matched his dorm room. It was genuine.He slumped into his chair, feeling defeated. The strength drained out of him. If not for the armrests and the back of the chair, he might have slid straight onto the floor.According to the photo, last night, right here in this dorm room, he'd done something unspeakable with a woman who was not his wife. The woman's face wasn't visible, but the butterfly tattoo on her body made it very clear she wasn't Cora.Damn it. Last night hadn't been a dream!Who was this woman? How had she gotten into his room? Why would he have let her in? Why would he have messed around with her? Why hadn't he pushed her away? What the hell had he been doing?A barrage of questions turned Joseph's mind into a tangled mess. Compared to this inexplicable disgrace, what really made his hea

After ending the conversation with Fiona, Joseph was called back to Walt's office. Bernard had already left."Joseph, you didn't go easy on Bernard at all. He was steely-faced when he left." Walt told Joseph to sit.Bernard had punched Joseph without even bothering to get to the bottom of the matter, and he'd even threatened Joseph. On top of that, there was the scandal Cora had created. Joseph didn't think he had anything to do with either of them anymore.He said, "I didn't say anything wrong or untrue. The divorce itself is a simple matter. Bernard is the one who's acting out of line and coming to the hospital time and time again to push me.""It does involve his daughter, after all.""And Cora is the source of all these problems in the first place." Joseph didn't want to waste time talking about his messy personal life now. He switched to talking about work.Right then, Walt's secretary came in with a fax. He signed in, then said to Joseph, "I'm heading to an important medica